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Tony downed the beer, switched the TV off, and left the house. He had spent the last hour pacing the lounge nervously, unable to control the rising feel of panic. What if he couldn't do the job? What if they asked questions? Michelle had left at dawn, wishing him luck, but that wasn't much good to him, Tony thought angrily. Eventually he had given in to nerves, and grabbed a beer from the fridge to calm himself down. Trouble was, one beer hadn't been enough. Which was why there was now a large number of empty beer bottles lying on the lounge floor, the contents of which had been drunk by Tony in less than one hour.
He stumbled along the road, checking his watch every few seconds, still nervous. At least they wouldn't be bothered by the time he had spent in prison, Tony thought; they were probably all criminals themselves, judging by his 'interview' yesterday. He arrived at the garage with a couple of minutes to spare, and began to search for the manager who he had met the previous day.
"Tony, right?" he heard a gruff voice ask. Tony turned to find a tall mechanic, covered in grease emerging from underneath one of the cars. Tony nodded, and held out his hand. The mechanic didn't take it.
"Manager's late in this mornin", he told Tony, looking him up and down with a sneer. "I'm in charge until he gets back. He wants you to clean up a couple of cars. They're goin' out today. Oh, an' no messin' around, I don't like lazy workers".
Tony felt himself tense with anger. Who was this guy to boss him around and treat him like shit? He opened his mouth to retaliate, but felt himself swaying, and began to feel dizzy. He steadied himself, anger replacing worry over how much he'd drunk. If anyone here found out that he was drunk, he'd get sacked straight away. And then Michelle wouldn't leave Division.
The mechanic showed him the cars, and handed him a bucket of water with a sponge. Tony looked down at. The sponge was so old and dirty that it'd probably make the car more of a mess than it currently was. But he kept his mouth shut, and began to splash water onto the car. The mechanic leaned against the back of the car, watching Tony work. "So what happened at your old job?" he asked.
"What?" Tony asked sharply, worried by the question. The alcohol was slowing his thoughts down, and he couldn't think of a way out of the question.
"Why'd you leave?" The mechanic said with a raised eyebrow, sensing that Tony was hiding something.
"I uh… didn't get on with my boss" Tony lied, wishing the mechanic would leave him alone and get on with his own work.
"You're lyin," the mechanic said immediately, taking a step towards Tony. "What're you hidin'?"
Tony threw the sponge into the bucket angrily, splashing water onto the mechanic. "What's it to you?" he yelled, leaning against the car to stop himself from swaying.
The mechanic grinned at Tony, and tilted his head to one side. "Prison?" he asked tauntingly, having seen many ex-cons come through the garage.
Tony glared at the mechanic, his fists clenched and his heart racing. "Keep your nose out of my business, alright?" he threatened, struggling to control the urge to punch this pain in the ass in the face.
But the mechanic simply grinned even more, seeming to enjoy Tony's obvious anger. "You don't seem like the type" he drawled, readying himself for any attack that Tony might make. And Tony did make one.
The mechanic blocked Tony's first punch with ease, and retaliated. Tony didn't see the punch coming until it was too late; his reactions slowed by the alcohol. As blood began to gush from Tony's nose, he straightened up, blinded by fury, and launched towards the mechanic. Both exchanged punches angrily, the fight becoming more and more vicious, until Tony found himself struggling to breathe as the mechanic's hands pressed further and further into his throat. He lashed out with his leg, catching the mechanic across the head. Tony sprung up, fists raised, when he heard an angry cry from behind him.
"What the hell is going on?" the manager shouted, taking in the scene.
Tony opened his mouth to defend himself, but the mechanic managed to get there first. "Bastard attacked me! Jumped me from behind!"
Tony protested loudly, but the manager dismissed his moans with a wave of his hand. "I don't want to hear it. You stink of alcohol, you've got into a fight with one of my best mechanics; it's your first day! I don't need this kinda trouble. Get out of here; go cause trouble some place else!"
Tony's heart plummeted to his feet. He'd been at work for less than an hour, and he'd already been sacked. How the hell was he supposed to get another job? People knew, from looking at him, that he had been in prison - this mechanic sure had. He was a complete and utter failure. And now Michelle would hate him even more, and she wouldn't leave Division because they couldn't afford it. What the hell was she going to say to him?
He began to stumble away from the garage, unaware of how much of a mess he looked, blood pouring down his face. Where could he go? The gravity of his situation began to sink in. He'd been in prison, hadn't got a job for months, then finally got one, and didn't even last a full day. He felt like crying, but instead picked up a stone from the road and threw it as hard and fast as he could. He kicked another angrily, almost falling over in the process. "Dammit Tony!" he yelled, as loud as he could, furious with himself, then made his way slowly home.
Michelle knew where she would find him. She'd tried to make herself believe that he might have changed, that a day of work might have made him see how he was wasting his life with beer in front of the TV. But there he was, surrounded by more empty beer bottles than usual, staring at some soccer game on the TV. She sighed, and entered the room cautiously. Maybe a few more days of work would help. Maybe.
"Tony. How did it go?" she asked, forcing herself to sound cheerful, and happy to see him. Tony turned to face her, and Michelle took a step back, horrified. His face was swollen, there was dried blood beneath his nose, and he looked positively murderous. "Wha… What happened?" she exclaimed, shocked.
"Some bastard mechanic decided to get smart with me" Tony grunted, not having the energy to think of a lie. "The job was crap Michelle, it wasn't worth having anyway". He turned back to the TV, ashamed. "Every job I go for is gonna be crap - no one wants to employ a traitor. So I'm not gonna bother trying". His words were spoken bitterly, filled with regret and remorse.
Michelle couldn't believe what she was hearing. He'd attacked a mechanic, and been sacked. On his first day! But she couldn't get angry with Tony; it wouldn't help at all. And he'd decided not to bother trying to get another job. Just as things had been starting to look up, and she had tried to believe that things would be ok now. Tried.
But she didn't understand. Tony was only angry and violent when he was drunk. Not that she could really tell - he spent all day, of every day, drunk. Had he lost his temper with this mechanic soberly? Or had he turned up to work drunk? Surely Tony wouldn't be that stupid. But she had to find out. "Were you…" she started, not sure if she should ask or not. "Sober?" she whispered, dreading his response.
Tony's eyes flashed towards Michelle; how dare she accuse him of being drunk? But he had been. Michelle was right. He stared at Michelle silently, not knowing whether to lie or tell her the truth. Michelle lowered her eyes, breaking the awkward gaze between them. He had been drunk. She felt like screaming; what could she do with Tony? He was getting worse and worse.
She turned, and walked out of the room, unable to bear the sight of Tony wasting his life away in this state. Her emotions were so conflicted; anger, sadness, helplessness, fear. Love. Because no matter what he did, she still loved Tony. And she always would. That's why it was so heart-wrenchingly awful to see him like this.
"Michelle." Tony said, as she walked out. But she kept walking, tears beginning to fall.